• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.532-537
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• 2022

The need for obtaining treated wastewater that meets high quality standards for discharge or reuse necessitates the use of highly efficient wastewater treatment techniques. In the present study, experiments have been carried out to reduce the concentration level of biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total dissolved solids (TDS) from the wastewater sample. Treatment of sample of a real municipal wastewater collected from a sewage treatment plant (STP) was carried out in an electrochemical membrane bioreactor (EMBR). The EMBR was operated continuously for five days, and readings were taken at regular intervals. This paper has experimental results conducted in EMBR that indicate reduction of BOD, COD, and TDS levels of up to 32.25%, 29.25%, and 31.93%, respectively. Further, it was observed that a current of magnitude of 0.00752 mA was generated due to the metabolic activities of bacteria present in municipal wastewater, which gradually decreased day by day due to the decay of bacteria.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.666-674
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• 2009

An electrochemical bioreactor (ECB) composed of a cathode compartment and an air anode was used in this study to characterize the ethanol fermentation of Zymomonas mobilis. The cathode and air anode were constructed of modified graphite felt with neutral red (NR) and a modified porous carbon plate with cellulose acetate and porous ceramic membrane, respectively. The air anode operates as a catalyst to generate protons and electrons from water. The growth and ethanol production of Z. mobilis were 50% higher in the ECB than were observed under anoxic nitrogen conditions. Ethanol production by growing cells and the crude enzyme of Z. mobilis were significantly lower under aerobic conditions than under other conditions. The growing cells and crude enzyme of Z. mobilis did not catalyze ethanol production from pyruvate and acetaldehyde. The membrane fraction of crude enzyme catalyzed ethanol production from glucose, but the soluble fraction did not. NADH was oxidized to $NAD^+$in association with $H_2O_2$reduction, via the catalysis of crude enzyme. Our results suggested that NADH/$NAD^+$balance may be a critical factor for ethanol production from glucose in the metabolism of Z. mobilis, and that the metabolic activity of both growing cells and crude enzyme for ethanol fermentation may be induced in the presence of glucose.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.836-844
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• 2009

A denitrification bacterium was isolated from riverbed soil and identified as Ochrobactrum sp., whose specific enzymes for denitrification metabolism were biochemically assayed or confirmed with specific coding genes. The denitrification activity of strain G3-1 was proportional to glucose/nitrate balance, which was consistent with the theoretical balance (0.5). The modified graphite felt cathode with neutral red, which functions as a solid electron mediator, enhanced the electron transfer from electrode to bacterial cell. The porous carbon anode was coated with a ceramic membrane and cellulose acetate film in order to permit the penetration of water molecules from the catholyte to the outside through anode, which functions as an air anode. A non-compartmented electrochemical bioreactor (NCEB) comprised of a solid electron mediator and an air anode was employed for cultivation of G3-1 cells. The intact G3-1 cells were immobilized in the solid electron mediator, by which denitrification activity was greatly increased at the lower glucose/nitrate balance than the theoretical balance (0.5). Metabolic stability of the intact G3-1 cells immobilized in the solid electron mediator was extended to 20 days, even at a glucose/nitrate balance of 0.1.